Federal Drug Crimes

Federal Drug Crimes

The laws at the federal, state and local levels are very strict against the possession, sale or trafficking of illegal drugs (known in legal terms as ‘controlled substances’). Most drug crimes are considered felonies that are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Charges Relating to Drug Crimes

There are many different types of illegal drugs, including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and many others. There are also many different classifications of drug crimes, and all of them come with their own set of possible penalties if you are convicted. Some of the most common drug charges include:

Often when you are accused of participating in illegal drug-related activities, you may be dealing with overlapping offenses resulting in multiple charges. If you are caught with less than an ounce of marijuana on your person, for example, you may only be facing a misdemeanor possession charge; but if you are pulled over with a significant amount of drugs, money and/or weapons found in your vehicle, you’re more likely to be suspected and/or charged with possession with intent to distribute, or trafficking, as well as possession of the substance itself.

Defending Against Drug Charges

Our criminal defense attorneys are well versed in the laws governing drug crimes; they know what does and does not qualify as evidence pertaining the charges against you, and they know how to defend your interests to ensure you receive a fair trial. We listen carefully to your story, investigate all the circumstances surrounding your case (including possible illegal searches and seizures), explain your options thoroughly, provide expert advice as to how you should plead, and begin mounting a solid defense even during the pre-trial stage. With our many years of experience, we have an excellent track record of defending drug crimes. And if your trial does result in a conviction, we continue to defend your interests after the trial, from appeals to sentencing mitigation.

When Illegal Search and Seizure Violates Your Rights

Our illegal search and seizure lawyers focus on aggressively challenging law enforcement’s search and seizure conduct in cases of federal criminal charges under the Fourth Amendment. This is one of the most successful ways to mitigate the potential consequences of a conviction — by attacking the evidence the government obtained against you.

When an illegal search warrant or wiretap was used to acquire evidence against you— firearms, drugs, money or other elements of the offenses — proving the government’s misconduct can lead to the suppression of this evidence. This means that it cannot be brought against you at trial. You may also be able to achieve the suppression of secondary evidence, like a witness’s testimony.

Protecting Your Fourth Amendment Constitutional Rights

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects your rights by prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure of persons and places, as well in wiretaps. In many cases, especially federal drug cases, the pre-trial stage requires an attack on evidence seized by the government in violation of your Fourth Amendment rights.

These pretrial motions challenging evidence must be filed with the court before your trial. They attack the question of whether your person or a place was searched illegally. If evidence was obtained illegally in a criminal case it must be excluded from use against you at trial. Further, anything that led to more evidence against you coming from the illegally seized evidence cannot be used either. This is known as the “fruit of the poisonous tree” effect.

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